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Three Lovely Ladies in Thongs (Thong Sandals, That Is)

In June, I saw lots of wimmins in Paris wearing flat, leather, thong sandals everywhere … even though it was raining and the high temperature was in the low 60s. (I was wearing a trench coat and boots.) I thought, “Damn, these ladies are so excited to wear these sandals they’re risking frostbite!” That interested me, so I kept my eyes on the ground when I came home to New York and noticed a lot more sex-ay leather thongs and (thankfully) a lot fewer ugly rubber flip flops than in the past. One difference between New York and Paris: here, women were wearing the look in the heat, rather than during a cold snap. New Yorkers are so practical!

Here is Khadijah Red of Fab Finds in a Beat. She says, “My sandals are from Call It Spring and they are my favorite pair of jeweled sandals and highly comfortable. The gold link chains add a super-cute detail to dress up any outfit. These sandals are also versatile enough to wear with skinny jeans, skirts or dresses.”

Khadijah Red

I like the way Khadijah is wearing a head wrap and a denim vest, yet looks as cool as a cucumber (but not as cool as a cucumber in the chilly Paris rain.)

Laura of STYLE, SHE WROTE is wearing what she described as “Sam Edelman’s ubiquitous Gigi sandals in gold ‘crocodile’ leather” in her photo.

Laura

Laura says, “I love these sandals because they work well with most everything in my summer wardrobe — from hot shorts to midi skirts — and are incredibly comfortable.”

Finally, Vika of Viki Talks found some rubber thongs that, unlike most rubber flip flops, don’t look like they belong in the shower.

Vika

She says that her “amazingly comfortable” sandals are from “Primark — those are cheap ones but as good as those expensive!”

Well, I guess that answers my question of whether shoes with no support can be comfortable. All three thong wearers agree. Podiatrist warnings be damned! If you’re looking for new thongs, check out the bejeweled sandals recommended by the Wall Street Journal here. (If the direct link doesn’t work, you should be able to get in the “side door” by using Poodle to search for “WSJ jeweled sandals.”) Don’t worry — you still have plenty of time to wear them. I know people are saying, “Summer is almost over!”, but, as the ever-practical MrB likes to point out, there’s really about a month and a half left to go.

However, if you’re seriously done with summer and are already on to fall, shoe-wise, Dayna Ziegler, vice president of shoes for Saks Fifth Avenue, says she is excited for the “fashionable mid-heel styles. Long considered a more career option for a typically older customer, mid-heels have emerged as this season’s must-have fashion shoe.” Surprised? Remember what Valerie Steele, the director and chief curator of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, said in my last Huffington Post story: “When you reach the maximum of whatever it is, the height of your mini or the height of your heel, the pendulum will swing and it will move to something else.” I guess we’ve reached the height of sex-ay, so this autumn is going to be all about the older-business-lady look. In other words, exactly what I tried to avoid during my years in the corporate world. Hmmm. I’m sure we’ll all find some way to make it look good!

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Comments

I just finished binging on “New Girl” and wrote a post on Jess’s style– and one thing that comes to mind is that she wears heels, but they’re more of the mid-range. Which makes sense for a young, stylish, TEACHER. She can’t wear 5″ stilettos to teach elementary kids, but a 2-3″ heel? Totally. And the success of the Valetino rockstud in the just-scantly higher than a kitten heel….

Hearing that you didn’t get enough submissions on your flat-thong story idea makes me sad, because I have three pairs I wear with everything from March to October. After many years of rubber flops, I decided that if I were to wear thongs they had to be good-quality leather ones. I also have a couple pairs of heavy-ish flat sandals with wide leather straps and chunky metal hardware. I like the simplicity if I’m going for flats. At work I wear steel-toed boots. It’s nice to set my feet free. My life just doesn’t often call for fancy heels, though I have several pairs from my former, pre-recession office job/life.

Yeah, I would have loved to do the story for Huffington Post — I see more flat thongs than I can count on the street every day! But it wasn’t a big enough story to get out there with a street-style photographer.

I was definitely feeling that people in general had upgraded from rubber recently. A fancier flip flop, so to speak.

People here pretty much only wear thongs and nothing but. Man, woman, child, pony, you name it. People wear them for their weddings, and to go to court. My best friend’s husband wore a leather pair with his wedding suit, and looked surprisingly dapper!

I don’t wear thong sandals. I think they’re pretty. And they look comfortable. However, all of them, from the cheapest flip-flops to high-priced Italian leather, have torn my feet up. I walk everywhere and after about two blocks I have blisters between my toes from the “thong”. How do all you womens that do wear these types of sandals do it??!! (Seriously, enlighten me.)

I really wanted to do a HuffPost story, so disappointed I didn’t get enough submissions!

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MEET WENDY BRANDES

Award-winning designer of fine jewelry inspired by women's history and pop culture. A former journalist who writes about jewelry, fashion, medieval history, news, feminism, dogs, cats and whatever else is on her mind. Blogging since 2007.